Speak Now
by FallingIntoRain
Summary: Percy is getting married and Annabeth is utterly heartbroken. Repenting the mistakes she committed years ago, she rushes to save Percy from the clutches of Allessia Belle, daughter of Aphrodite.
1. Speak Now

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Speak Now

_**I am not the kind of girl to be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion**_

Annabeth was hunched in a ball on the window seat, forcing back tears as she stared at the droplets of rain hitting the pane. Unconsciously tracing patterns on the cold glass, she tried to put her jumbled thoughts in working order.

Annabeth Chase never cried. She was one of the best and smartest warriors at the camp. She was proud, just, and the slightest bit arrogant. She never cracked under pressure and had helped save the world twice. In all her life, she had broken down exactly twice. Once when Thalia died and once when Percy went missing.

When they still were...

_No._

She would not think about it. She wouldn't.

Percy's broken face, her cold words of goodbye, the wind whistling through her hair, the roar of the waves in the distance, his outstretched arm as she walked away not looking back, all floated in sharp flashes through her mind.

There was no doubt about it. She was the biggest fool in the world. But Gordon had been so charming, so understanding, so.. well everything. He had comforted her when Percy was gone and stuck with her during the year while Percy was in New York as his family lived in San Francisco too. His words had swept her of her feet and she had caved.

She broke up with her soul mate for Gordon and he had dumped her after six months of toying with her. She refused to crawl back to Percy and had stayed in the background as he started to date Allessia Belle, daughter of Aphrodite.

Oh, how she had wanted to strangle Allessia then. How she wanted to beg Percy to take her back. Her stupid pride wouldn't let her. Never would Annabeth Chase crawl back to someone.

**_But you are not the kind of boy who should be marrying the wrong girl_**

That was five years ago. She had convinced herself she was over it and had constructed some semblance of a life to hide behind. She had gotten a degree in architecture and a steady job. But, underneath it all, the heartache was till there. The slight emptiness in her soul was always apparent, though she attempted to disguise it by burying herself in her workload.

Her reality had fallen apart just five hours ago, when Rachel Elizabeth Dare burst into her apartment. Her frizzy curls in a disarray, she had yanked Annabeth's had almost out of its socket and had told her that Percy was about to be married to Allessia Belle.

She had managed to summon up the last remnants of her calm and asked for some time alone.

She knew that Percy was marrying wrong. How could Allessia, vain, girly Allessia, handle his recklessness? How could Percy marry someone like that? How could he?

**_I sneak in and see your friends and her snotty little family all dressed in pastel_**

She had woken up Rachel and let her know she was going. They had managed to find a last minute plane ride to New York. The whole way, Annabeth clutched the armrests, guilt and shame gripping her heart. Suppose Percy truly was in love with Allessia, suppose he would dismiss her as an annoyance. Suppose...

After throwing on a shimmery grey dress and pinning her hair up hastily, she had rushed to the building where the vows would be exchanged.

She saw Nico strolling past, smiling blissfully at a blue eyed girl he was leading by the arm. Outside, in the blooming garden, Grover and Juniper had their heads together. In the entrance hall, she could see Thalia, who had evidently persuaded Artemis to let her come to the wedding, talking animatedly to Chiron who was nodding gravely in his wheelchair form.

With a slight jolt, she saw Allessia's family. Her father and stepmother, both looking haughtily at the scene before them, and her stepsister, her nose turned up at the festivities, all dressed in the finest in wedding apparel.

_**And she is yelling at a bridesmaid, somewhere back inside a room in a gown shaped like a pastry**_

And there was Allessia, dressed in a gown fairly quivering with diamonds, lace, and bows. Her outfit was topped with a golden tiara studded with precious gems on her elaborately curled brown hair. She looked absolutely glamorous and at the height of fashion.

The whole thing made Annabeth feel sick.

Allessia, face twisted with fury, was screaming at a cowering bridesmaid in a dark supply room. With a final threat, she composed her features into a sweet smile and, throwing the door open, rustled out.

This is surely not what you thought it would be

Annabeth, staring in disbelief and disgust, knew that Percy couldn't have known about this. He could never marry her if he knew.

_**I lose myself in a daydream, where I stand and say:**_

_**Don't say yes**_

_**Run away now**_

_**I'll meet you **_

_**When I'm out of the church**_

_**At the backdoor**_

_**Don't wait or say a single vow**_

_**You need to hear me now and they said Speak Now**_

Staring the simpering form of the girl Percy was about to marry, she was suddenly assailed by doubt. She knew Percy could never love with someone like that, but how on earth could she convince him?

How on earth could she hope to compete with that devastating beauty, that glittering form? She looked down at her dress. It had seemed pretty in the morning, in her crazed frenzy to get to Percy, but now seemed incredibly shabby and old fashioned.

How could Percy ever pick her over the fashion model he was getting ready to exchange his vows with?

_**Fond gestures are exchanged and the organ starts to play a song that sounds like a death march**_

Startled by a light tap on her arm, she looks up to see Rachel's worried face. Nodding toward the main hall, Rachel hissed that the wedding was about to begin.

Swallowing back the fear which had gripped her suddenly, Annabeth straightened her back and composed her face.

"Let's go," she whispered eyes defiant.

The first strains of the organ reached her ears, spelling out the familiar tune which had joined so many couples before. To Annabeth's ears, the traditional march sounded like a funeral.

What they would play when someone, incalculably precious to at least one mourner, passed into the Underworld to await judgment.

_**And I am hiding in the curtains**_

_**It seems that I was uninvited by your lovely bride to be**_

She slips into her seat beside Rachel, apprehensive that someone would recognize her. Technically, she wasn't a guest and could be kicked out at any second.

After all, the only reason she could get in without an invite was that Rachel had bribed the doorman.

**_She floats down the aisle like a pageant queen_**

**_But I know you wish it was me, you wish it was me_**

**_Dontcha?_**

Annabeth watched as Allessia glided down the aisle, barely disguising a smug smirk. Annabeth clenched her fists as Percy's supermodel fiancée floated toward him, slowly and delicately. Her face was lathered in makeup, almost over the top. She was wearing silver eye shadow, light pink lipstick, lined with silver. Her face molded by the hands of skilled makeup artists.

None of it was natural. Everything about Allessia was fake, completely and utterly fake. From the tip of her elaborately curled head to the lab created diamond slippers she wore.

For an insane moment, Annabeth wanted to rip that princess disguise out and show everyone the real Allessia. Regaining control of herself, she leaned back slightly in her seat and folded her hands firmly in her lap.

Rachel, noticing the sudden tenseness in her posture, gave her a quizzical look. Annabeth just shook her head slightly. After giving her a final worried glance, Rachel leaned back.

She must be imagining it, but something flickered in Percy's face as he watched beruffled bride step toward him, a smug expression on her snooty face. He doesn't- he doesn't look completely happy. Maybe, just maybe he didn't want Allessia?

**_{Skip Chorus}_**

**_I hear the preacher say, Speak Now or forever hold your peace_**

**_There's the silence, there's my last chance_**

**_I stand up with shaky hands all eyes on me_**

Annabeth knew it was her last chance as the preacher, a tall, slightly balding man, boomed out the words, her last lifeline to grasp at. This was it. She had exactly five seconds to decide. If he didn't love her, if he laughed at her, she would have done it all only to face public humiliation. And Oh! What if he did love Allessia after all?

Then Annabeth felt a gentle touch on her upper arm. Rachel's eyes bored into her and she gave her head a small nod.

"Follow your heart."

Clenching her hands and letting all her fear out, Annabeth stood up.

**_Horrified looks from everyone in the room, but I'm only looking at you._**

**_I am not the kind of girl who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion, but you are not the kind of boy who should be marrying the wrong girl_**

**_So don't say yes_**

**_Run away now_**

**_I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the backdoor_**

**_Don't wait or say a single vow_**

**_You need to hear me out and they said Speak Now_**

Immediately, a hundred eyes zoomed in on Annabeth's pale face as she rose out of her seat. There was pure horror in so many faces, that she wished she could laugh and say it was some big twisted joke.

But, if there was one thing that was certain of Annabeth Chase, it was that she never backed down. Annabeth had made her choice and she would follow through.

Eyes connecting with Percy, all the ideas, all the speeches, that she had formulated in her brain crept away. She didn't remember a single word.

Focusing on Percy's shell shocked gaze, she began to talk.

"Percy, I'm sorry. I should have said that to you so many years ago. I didn't deserve you. I never did. I don't know what possessed me to give you up, and I've regretted it every moment.

Percy, you know me. I was your best friend. You know I would never barge in a wedding like this without a reason. Please Percy, listen to me. I never say please nor do I beg. But I'm begging now. Percy, she's not right for you. She never was. Listen, just this once.

I- I'm sorry for barging in. I truly am. But I had to tell you this," she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

**_And you say, let's run away now_**

**_I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the backdoor_**

**_Baby, I didn't say my vows_**

**_So glad you were around_**

**_When they said, Speak Now_**

With dawning fear at the silence that greeted her outburst, Annabeth suddenly ducked her head and prepared to escape.

"Wait," a single word escaped Percy's still frozen lips.

When Annabeth looked at him, he knew.

"Annabeth, thank you. I agree, you should have apologized a long time ago. You also owe me a huge explanation for all this. But, y'know, don't think we can all discuss this better over a cup of coffee at Starbucks?" He smiled teasingly.

With joy ballooning in her heart, she whispered, "Really?"

"Yes really. Now c'mon. They close at six today."

Laughing with wonder and relief, they walked out the door, hand in hand; Allessia's screams and the muttering that filled the hall after the scene.

* * *

><p><strong>I never thought Rachel was a bad person. In fact, I quite like her. I always thought she'd support Percabeth. Please be kind, constructive criticism is appreciated.<strong>

**Lily**


	2. White Horse

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or White Horse.**

**"White Horse"**

_**Say you're sorry  
>That face of an angel<br>Comes out just when you need it to**_

Reyna was the happiest she had been in a long time. Of course, she hid it under the stoic face of the commander. But inside, she was leaping, grinning, and being the kind of happy-go-lucky girl that she regularly looked down on.

Because _he _was coming. Jason, her fellow praetor, the Killer of Krios. The little boy, the weakling who had appeared to greet her when she had arrived at camp. Reyna had never dreamed that she'd feel like this about him then. Of course, a few years after that, the Second War had started and he'd got handsome and heroic and all.

Of course, she wasn't so shallow as to like him only because of his brand new position. No, the feelings had developed slowly and surely, first planning campaigns against Saturn and his army, then working as praetors together.

She had fallen in love. And now Jason was coming back home. It was all Reyna could do to not call a giant eagle to pick her up and land her on the ship and pummel Jason for making her so worried. Of course after that she would probably spew her feelings for him out.

Glancing at Percy, she saw the anticipation and wild happiness on his face. With a jolt, Reyna realized that his girlfriend was on that ship too. She wondered idly what kind of girl Percy would date, and then dismissed the thought. This moment was for Jason.

The first out of the ship was a lithe, blond haired girl with grey eyes, obviously a daughter of Minerva. Then Percy was running to meet her and with a swoop of surprise, she realized that this was his girlfriend. Huh, who knew?

She watched them hug with an unfamiliar warm feeling in her chest, and then the girl leaned back and punched him. She kissed him again after that.

Soon after, her mind went blank because Jason came out. A huge roar rose from the legionnaires as their eyes fell upon the son of Jupiter. A rusty, unused grin unfurled on Reyna's face as she stepped forward to greet him.

He smiled, a slow, slightly confused smile.

"R-Reyna?" he stuttered.

With a bouncing in her heart, she answered coolly, "Jason. Welcome back."

She was surprised at how composed her words were. She certainly wasn't feeling composed now. But then, being commander had to have paid off somehow.

Then, Percy came forward. She saw shock form in Jason's eyes as he saw Percy's praetor cape. Reyna felt a small spasm of worry.

"Hey, you're Jason, right? The old praetor?" Percy was grinning. "You don't need to worry about me stealing your job, because you can have it back. Way too stressful for a dude like me."

Well, that's one problem solved, Reyna thought wryly as she watched Percy and Jason shake hands.

After all the ceremonies and greeting each other, Reyna found herself back in her praetor's house. She was reclining on her sofa, lazily cleaning her dagger as she reflected on this perfect day.

A knock sounded on the door. Instantly alert, Reyna yelled, "Who is this?"

"Jason," a quiet voice replied.

Eyes widening, Reyna leapt off the couch, as if she had been shocked, and wrenched the door open.

"So," she said evenly, standing aside. "Come in."

As he awkwardly entered the room, he kept swallowing as if to say something major.

"So you're Reyna, right?" he said nervously. At her decisive nod, he continued, "Well, see I don't really remember you, with Juno erasing my memory and all, so I was just wondering what you are to me. Like, are you just a friend?"

Reyna willed her frozen lips to move. "We are friends. Just friends."

"Okay, good. Thank you. I need to go now. Sorry," he said, a bit sheepishly, as he edged toward the door and rushed away.

_**As I paced back and forth all this time  
>Cause I honestly believed in you<strong>_

She paced the room, cursing Juno to the Underworld and back. What had she expected? Him declaring his love in front of the whole legion?

She felt broken, ruined. Why, why did Juno have to pick Jason? It wasn't fair. Percy had gotten his love, why couldn't she get hers? Why?

Getting out her gladius, she started to hack and slash at a dummy which stood in her bedroom. Thrust in the stomach, back step, lunge toward the heart, and follow it up the chest…

When the dummy lay on the floor, mangled beyond recognition, she threw her sword across the room and savagely ripped the photo of Jason that she always kept on her bedstead to pieces and crushed the picture frame, a lone tear running down her cheek.

_**Holding on  
>The days drag on<br>Stupid girl,  
>I should have known, I should have known<strong>_

Day followed day, and Reyna kept up the guise of the stoic warrior. Her poker face was absolutely flawless. He would never guess.

Each day was utterly tasteless and dreary. There nothing to look forward to, not a trace of happiness in the blankness of her miserable life. 

She soon met Percy's girlfriend, a tall, slim girl with sarcastic wit and an arrogant attitude. Reyna liked her though; it was obvious she would fight to the very end for those the girl, Annabeth, loved.

She met Jason's graecus friends. Leo Valdez, a mischievous looking guy with a joke for everything. He irritated her, with his jokes and optimistic attitude.

Then there was her. Piper McLean. The reason for Jason's look of happiness and rush to get away after their fatal conversation was explained. Piper was pretty, sensitive, a daughter of Venus, and Jason's girlfriend.

Yet it was hard to dislike her. Piper was so honest and completely innocent, with a certain charm about her. It was impossible to hate someone like that.

_****__**[Chorus:]**__**  
>I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale,<br>I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet,  
>Lead her up the stairwell<br>This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town,  
>I was a dreamer before you went and let me down,<br>Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around**_

She thought about a movie she'd once watched long ago; back when she and Hylla were on the run. They had sneaked into a movie theatre, filled with starry eyed girls watching a romance movie.

Reyna had long forgotten the name, but the scenes were impossible to forget. A man had fallen in love with a girl and promised her that he would marry her after he had made his fortune in the world. In spite of herself, Reyna had been touched by the movie.

Obviously, her happy ending would never come. 

_**Baby I was naive,  
>Got lost in your eyes<br>and never really had a chance**_

Come to think of it, Reyna had never had actual proof that Jason had once loved her. Those moments when she had felt a connection, maybe they had never existed.

Staring into those sapphire irises, burning with a kind of sadness had always made her heart flutter. She had gotten lost in them so many times.

Reyna had always prided herself on her practicality, but now she knew that she had been naïve. Such an idiot as her had never existed. How had she ever hoped to win Jason's heart?

_**My mistake, I didn't know to be in love  
>you had to fight to have the upper hand<strong>_

Reyna had never been in a relationship before. Never. There had been no men on Circe's island, and then her sister had joined the Amazons, warriors who spurned the company of men. Back then, Reyna had completely agreed with their doctrines.

It was an honest mistake, a first love gone awry. She had truly loved Jason, but he was gone. He would never be hers.

_**I had so many dreams  
>About you and me<br>Happy endings**_

_**Now I know**_

Reyna had built so many castles in her imagination, only to have them all tumble down with one conversation.

She had watched the veterans in the city, the love the married couples had for each other. She had dreamed that perhaps one day she and Jason would retire together and get married. It seemed like the perfect ending.

Endings weren't the only things she had dreamed of. In the dead of the night, she had been blissfully entertained with guilty dreams of Jason galloping by on a white horse, dressed like a knight in shining armor and snatching her from the jaws of almost certain death.

Now she knew it would never happen. Those castles were ashes now.

_**[Chorus:]**__**  
>And there you are on your knees,<br>Begging for forgiveness, begging for me  
>Just like I always wanted but I'm so sorry<strong>_

Savagely she dreamed of him coming and begging for her, silenced by withering words of rejection.

Oh, for him to feel the pain he had caused her! What wouldn't she do?

_**Cause I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale,  
>I'm gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well<br>This is a big world, that was a small town  
>There in my rear view mirror disappearing now<br>And it's too late for you and your white horse  
>Now it's too late for you and your white horse to catch me now<strong>_

The Seven had finally come back from their quest, victorious, after long months of torturous waiting.

To Reyna's big surprise, she only felt a slight twang of jealousy as she watched the way he looked a Piper. She didn't care as much.

Of course, Reyna still loved Jason, but all the fire was gone now, there was no passion in the way she felt about him anymore, just the cool affection of a sister.

But, now someone else had caught her eye, Jason's friend, Leo Valdez. His jokes now seemed endearing rather than just plain irritating. He could make her laugh all the time, something Jason had only managed once or twice.

Reyna was over Jason, she was finally allowing her feelings to expand beyond him now. The cage of heartbreak was finally broken and she was slowly starting to fall in love once again.

_****_

_**Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa  
>Try and catch me now<br>Oh, it's too late  
>To catch me now <strong>_

It was a glorious sunset on the top of the hill, the sky splashed with a rainbow of colors. Leo turned to her and muttered words that she had longed for so long. He finally told her he loved her.

**Okay, this was really hard to write. I didn't really know much about Reyna. We only saw her in the beginning and end of the Son of Neptune, so she might be a little OOC. Sorry about that.**

**So I really don't like Reyna and Leo, but I wanted her to get a happy ending.**


End file.
